Softball coming events

[around4ever 4,139]

39 minutes ago, WarTiger said:

Slot,  What can you tell me about Rachel Cook?   I just looked at our roster and saw her name.  It sounds vaguely familiar but I'm struggling to recall her background.  Website lists her as a Junior but no stats or any info on her freshman and sophomore years.  Did she transfer in or am I just losing it? 

I'm sure Slot knows more than me but my understanding is she had been at Auburn for two years and wanted to try out.  She  had a very good high school career at Dadeville but was not highly recruited.  

[around4ever 4,139]

I am concerned about our pitching.  Martin should be fine.  Swindle and Harris were good short relievers but not sure beyond that.  Handley is young with little experience.  I don't know what her role will be. 

[4WDE 89]

19 minutes ago, around4ever said:

I'm sure Slot knows more than me but my understanding is she had been at Auburn for two years and wanted to try out.  She  had a very good high school career at Dadeville but was not highly recruited.  

Sweet kid, but has a very long road to be ready to be on the field in any capacity.  

[4WDE 89]

6 minutes ago, around4ever said:

I am concerned about our pitching.  Martin should be fine.  Swindle and Harris were good short relievers but not sure beyond that.  Handley is young with little experience.  I don't know what her role will be. 

Swindle and Harris can get there, but need more high quality innings to continue to development.  There will be some bumps and bruises in SEC play for anyone not named Martin.  That leads to a concern with Martin hitting in terms of risk vs reward. Sure, the team needs hitting, but she is avg on her best day.  If she were to suffer any injury in the box or on the bases, that would turn the pitching situation upside down.  

[slot canyon 1,328]

I have no info on Cook other than what is posted here. I believe 4WDR thought she might be used as a base runner. I felt Swindle and Harris had made good progress in the fall but would defer to the impressions of 4WDE. I had a slightly better opinion about Martins hitting but I also was concerned about potential for injury should she be in that role. It has happened before (Rainey Gaffin at Tennessee).

[GBAU83 212]

On 1/19/2019 at 10:32 AM, 4WDE said:

Swindle and Harris can get there, but need more high quality innings to continue to development.  There will be some bumps and bruises in SEC play for anyone not named Martin.  That leads to a concern with Martin hitting in terms of risk vs reward. Sure, the team needs hitting, but she is avg on her best day.  If she were to suffer any injury in the box or on the bases, that would turn the pitching situation upside down.  

IIRC, Martin hit from the left and our number of lefties has decreased.  So it may be more situational for Martin to come in when we could benefit from a lefty PH.  I think that is how she was used earlier.  Agree that injury may be an issue, maybe let her hit, get on and then pinch run for her.

[slot canyon 1,328]

Phillip Marshall (Auburn Undercover) brief mention that during yesterdays scrimmage both Martin and Swindle had RBI's :  "Pitchers Makayla Martin and Ashlee Swindle had had RBIs in Auburn’s softball scrimmage Saturday. Does that mean they’ll get their swings when it counts? Head coach Mickey Dean said there is no doubt about it.  "  I do not recall Swindle hitting in the fall but believe she was good at the plate in high school ball.  I got the impression that Martin really enjoys getting some at bats.

[AUBwins 10,064]

16 minutes ago, slot canyon said:

Phillip Marshall (Auburn Undercover) brief mention that during yesterdays scrimmage both Martin and Swindle had RBI's :  "Pitchers Makayla Martin and Ashlee Swindle had had RBIs in Auburn’s softball scrimmage Saturday. Does that mean they’ll get their swings when it counts? Head coach Mickey Dean said there is no doubt about it.  "  I do not recall Swindle hitting in the fall but believe she was good at the plate in high school ball.  I got the impression that Martin really enjoys getting some at bats.

Remember how it appears Martin kinda looks uninterested in games sometimes?  Maybe getting these at bats will keep her in tune with game. This is all just my perception watching games.  Maybe she is and has been into the games from the start.  I hope with her being #1 on staff, she will be a good leader for us.  

[around4ever 4,139]

1 hour ago, slot canyon said:

Phillip Marshall (Auburn Undercover) brief mention that during yesterdays scrimmage both Martin and Swindle had RBI's :  "Pitchers Makayla Martin and Ashlee Swindle had had RBIs in Auburn’s softball scrimmage Saturday. Does that mean they’ll get their swings when it counts? Head coach Mickey Dean said there is no doubt about it.  "  I do not recall Swindle hitting in the fall but believe she was good at the plate in high school ball.  I got the impression that Martin really enjoys getting some at bats.

I haven't understood why Swindle has not been getting her swings since she has been at Auburn.  She was one of the best high school hitters in the state.  Of course, the pitching she faced was not SEC pitching but good hitters can adjust to the pitching. 

[AUBwins 10,064]

4 hours ago, around4ever said:

I haven't understood why Swindle has not been getting her swings since she has been at Auburn.  She was one of the best high school hitters in the state.  Of course, the pitching she faced was not SEC pitching but good hitters can adjust to the pitching. 

I suppose Dean wanted to focus on pitching.  Maybe she will get some swings early in season. 

[4WDE 89]

9 hours ago, around4ever said:

I haven't understood why Swindle has not been getting her swings since she has been at Auburn.  She was one of the best high school hitters in the state.  Of course, the pitching she faced was not SEC pitching but good hitters can adjust to the pitching. 

Had a chance to catch up and sit down with an SEC coach last week.  She would not comment directly on AU pitchers hitting.  She only would say that if the AU pitchers are in the batting lineup when they play this year, that is one less hitter they have to worry about.  Time will tell.

[Mikey 16,546]

14 hours ago, 4WDE said:

Had a chance to catch up and sit down with an SEC coach last week.  She would not comment directly on AU pitchers hitting.  She only would say that if the AU pitchers are in the batting lineup when they play this year, that is one less hitter they have to worry about.  Time will tell.

That's only true if the pitchers don't hit well. If the pitchers hit better than the hitter they are replacing, they will be one MORE hitter the opponent has to worry about.

[OlderWhiskey 953]

Without trying to dig it out, recollection is that Swindle and Perry had comparable hitting stats at Walker County. both over .500 with double-digit homers

[slot canyon 1,328]

3 hours ago, Mikey said:

That's only true if the pitchers don't hit well. If the pitchers hit better than the hitter they are replacing, they will be one MORE hitter the opponent has to worry about.

Agree; not going to be in the offensive lineup if there is a better option.

3 hours ago, OlderWhiskey said:

Without trying to dig it out, recollection is that Swindle and Perry had comparable hitting stats at Walker County. both over .500 with double-digit homers

That is my recollection also.  We know Megan Good was a good hitter at JMU.  In 2017 she had 180 AB and hit .383 including 12 HR.  So appears CMD will not hesitate to use his pitchers in the offensive lineup.  

[steeleagle 2,945]

50 minutes ago, slot canyon said:

Agree; not going to be in the offensive lineup if there is a better option.

That is my recollection also.  We know Megan Good was a good hitter at JMU.  In 2017 she had 180 AB and hit .354 including 12 HR.  So appears CMD will not hesitate to use his pitchers in the offensive lineup.  

But are we using our pitchers as hitters only bc our other position players are not showing they can hit SEC pitching? That bothers me that we didn't recruit quality hitters, and now are going to a backup plan.

Also, i am concerned that having pitchers hit will reduce their stamina for pitching. Will this tire them out some, and reduce their effective w their primary purpose....pitching? 

[slot canyon 1,328]

1 hour ago, steeleagle said:

But are we using our pitchers as hitters only bc our other position players are not showing they can hit SEC pitching? That bothers me that we didn't recruit quality hitters, and now are going to a backup plan.

Also, i am concerned that having pitchers hit will reduce their stamina for pitching. Will this tire them out some, and reduce their effective w their primary purpose....pitching? 

I believe we are just trying to find ways to give us the best opportunity to get some hits.  I am hopeful that some of our players will have better success at the plate this season.  As far as fatigue/stamina I will say that I had Megan Good's average wrong (now corrected); it was .383 all the while pitching 244 innings in 43 games with.0.63 ERA.  I know this is an isolated situation but I wouldn't object to that kind of stamina.  Hope we start seeing some offensive improvement starting in less than 2 weeks.

[4WDE 89]

To paraphrase our general conversation about it, she said there were good hitters on the roster and for AU to go far, those hitters have to come through. Otherwise, you are relying on those whose strength is not hitting, not a direct shot at the pitchers. There is also a reason college coaches don’t care about high school accolades and stats. They prefer to go with what they see in the summer when playing at a high level and what is on tape at the college level.  None of the pitchers are not as athletic as Good, they are pitchers. She was an athlete.

[slot canyon 1,328]

Phillip Marshall has posted up a couple of softball articles in the last 24 hours.  You can read both from his twitter page: @PMARSHONAU.  One about Martin and the other about the team and 2019 season.

[AUatHeart 624]

23 hours ago, 4WDE said:

To paraphrase our general conversation about it, she said there were good hitters on the roster and for AU to go far, those hitters have to come through. Otherwise, you are relying on those whose strength is not hitting, not a direct shot at the pitchers. There is also a reason college coaches don’t care about high school accolades and stats. They prefer to go with what they see in the summer when playing at a high level and what is on tape at the college level.  None of the pitchers are not as athletic as Good, they are pitchers. She was an athlete.

Funny story that relates to what girls see in higher level travel.  Last summer my daughter was in the big tournament that the Bolts hosted in Birmingham.  They were playing a team from Indiana and the pitcher was committed to Perdue.  My daughter was in the box and the pitch was coming so far inside that my daughter stepped back (coach wasn't real happy about that) and at the last second the ball broke sharply across the back of the plate.  Hope told me that she has never seen a pitch break like that before, and she's a catcher that's caught for girls that are now pitching in college.  I found it funny because that was that pitchers sit down pitch and it sure made my daughter sit down after it.

[around4ever 4,139]

7 minutes ago, AUatHeart said:

Funny story that relates to what girls see in higher level travel.  Last summer my daughter was in the big tournament that the Bolts hosted in Birmingham.  They were playing a team from Indiana and the pitcher was committed to Perdue.  My daughter was in the box and the pitch was coming so far inside that my daughter stepped back (coach wasn't real happy about that) and at the last second the ball broke sharply across the back of the plate.  Hope told me that she has never seen a pitch break like that before, and she's a catcher that's caught for girls that are now pitching in college.  I found it funny because that was that pitchers sit down pitch and it sure made my daughter sit down after it.

We faced a girl back in the early 90s who had signed with a Texas team (don't remember her name or which school).  She had as good of a rise ball as I had ever seen or seen since.  She could throw it at all levels from the knees up. Our first three batters struck out swinging at the rise.  Next inning the #4 and 5 hitters struck out swinging.  #6, who was a nut anyway, comes up to the plate, swings at two fastballs with no contact.  The third pitch was a rise of course and she fouled it straight back.  She proceeded to dance all around the plate, yelling and celebrating.  Both teams, the crowd, the umps were all rolling.  Next pitch, she drives to straight away center field way over the fence.  That was our only hit that game.